Official Photos of The Avengers; Plus New Character Details
Posted 09.30.11 by Ryan
The upcoming comic book adaptation of The Avengers is a mere seven plus months away, but it's never too early to start promoting. With production on the movie finished, the seemingly endless amount of set photos taken from the Cleveland and New York locations are now at an end. Entertainment Weekly has revealed a photo gallery of nine official photos from the movie and has photoshopped the superhero team — Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — onto its cover.
Besides the photos, which sees the team in action as well as behind-the-scenes with writer-director Joss Whedon. EW has also revealed individual portraits of the team members, including new details on each character as revealed by the individual actor.
Downey Jr. revealed what he was like during his first meeting with Whedon.
Well, I said, "I need to be in the opening sequence. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing." He was like, "Okay, let’s try that." We tried it and it didn’t work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus. But what was I like? As usual, just f—ing aggressive and hurtful; whatever. The usual.
Johansson admitted that she felt her character was a little inadequate when she was "assembled" amongst the rest of the team.
The other day we were doing this big reveal shot of all the Avengers. Thor has got his hammer, Cap’s got his shield, Hawkeye has his bow and arrow, and Hulk is huge. Then it pans over to me and I’ve got guns. Iron Man’s like, hovering above all of us, ready to go. I was like, "Joss... um… do I look okay holding these guns?" [Whedon’s response: "She’s a total badass. She’s a killing machine."]
Ruffalo says that Bruce Banner is the outcast of the Avengers, as the rest of team is afraid of his alter ego.
He’s the most mild-mannered guy, but a total loose cannon. No one wants to set him off except for Iron Man, except for Downey, who just wants to see him pop. It’s funny, there’s a really cool dynamic between Tony Stark and Banner. Banner actually enjoys it, and finds it really refreshing. They’re a lot alike in a strange way. They’re both these kind of scientists who are mavericks, kind of renegades. Banner, for all his mild-mannered mythology, he’s still the dude who was testing some pretty crazy s–t on himself, so he has that rebel streak in him.
Evans has previously said that Captain America will reveal a "darker" side, now that he has been thawed and is living in the present day after being frozen in ice in Captain America: The First Avenger.
It’s just about him trying to come to terms with the modern world. You’ve got to imagine, it’s enough of a shock to accept the fact that you’re in a completely different time, but everybody you know is dead. Everybody you cared about. He was a soldier, obviously, everybody he went to battle with, all of his brothers in arms, they’re all dead. He’s just lonely. I think in the beginning it’s a fish out of water scene, and it’s tough. It’s a tough pill for him to swallow. Then comes trying to find a balance with the modern world.
Hemsworth says that the team's mission in The Avengers is a personal one for the Norse god of thunder, since it is his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) that is causing all the trouble to begin with.
I think [Thor's] motivation is much more of a personal one, in the sense that it’s his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas everyone else, it’s some bad guy who they’ve gotta take down. It’s a different approach for me, or for Thor. He’s constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do vs. ... it’s his little brother there. I’ve been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family, but I’m the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There’s a bit of that.
Renner's Hawkeye, like Johansson's Black Widow, is one of the human heroes of the Avengers, lacking in either a weaponized suit or armor or any Super Soldier Serum in their blood, but that doesn't mean that the character isn't up to the task of saving the world.
The only sort of thing I cling to is the relationship of past experiences with Scarlett’s character, with them both being human. I can cling to that. He’s the only one who can really take down The Hulk with his tranq tip arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero.
Below are a few more photos from the EW article, compiled by The Playlist and photocopied and scanned by ComingSoon. Amongst the reveals is Loki captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, Samuel L. Jackson in action as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and a behind-the-scenes photo of Whedon, Downey Jr., Hemsworth and Evans.
The Avengers co-stars Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson, Cobie Smulders as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill and Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4